An integrated circuit (IC) is an electronic circuit applied on a semiconductor and is also referred to in professional circles as a solid-state circuit or a monolithic integrated circuit. A circuit of the generic type may be made up of a combination of several electronic semiconductor elements which are electrically connected to each other, such as transistors, diodes, and further active or passive components.
In order to make it possible to configure the circuit in the field, programmable systems of logic gates (field-programmable logic array, FPGA) are provided, with the aid of which highly diverse circuits may be implemented. German Patent Application No. DE 10 2006 049 245 A1 describes a control unit based on a FPGA, it being provided that an executable code, which is designed for carrying out one of the functions of the FPGA, is to be loaded into this FPGA.